Author/Editor		Zorec, Robert; Avšič-Županc, Tatjana; Verkhratsky, Alexei
Title		Astrogliopathology in the infectious insults of the brain
Type		članek
Vol. and No.		, št. Vol.
Publication year		2018
Volume		str. str.
ISSN		0304-3940 - Neuroscience letters
Language		eng
Abstract		Astroglia, a heterogeneous type of neuroglia, play key homeostatic functions in the central nervous system (CNS) and represent an important defence system. Impaired homeostatic capacity of astrocytes manifests in diseases and this is mirrored in various astrocyte-based pathological features including reactive astrogliosis, astrodegeneration with astroglial atrophy and pathological remodelling of astrocytes. All of these manifestations are most prominently associated with infectious insults, mediated by bacteria, protozoa and viruses. Here we focus onto neurotropic viruses such as tick-borne encephalitis (TBEV) and Zika virus (ZIKV), both belonging to Flaviviridae and both causing severe neurological impairments. We argue that astrocytes provide a route through which neurotropic infectious agents attack the CNS, since they are anatomically associated with the blood-brain barrier and exhibit aerobic glycolysis, a metabolic specialisation of highly morphologically dynamic cells, which may provide a suitable metabolic milieu for proliferation of infectious agents, including viral bodies.
Keywords		astroglia Zika virus CNS homeostasis astroglia Zika virus CNS homeostaza